This proposed pilot research is the first step in a series of planned investigations concerning the clinically documented problem of managing pain in alcoholic patients. The goal of this initial work is to document higher pain sensitivity among alcoholics in a controlled laboratory setting at baseline and in the presence of peripherally acting local anesthesia and centrally acting nitrous oxide. Alcoholic subjects will be clustered on severity of disease, time since withdrawal from alcohol, and stait anxiety. All subjects will have self-reported histories of intra-treatment pain control problems in dental settings. Controls will be matched on age and race. Intra- and inter-group comparisons will be made following electrical tooth stimulation at pain stimulus detection, pain threshold, and pain tolerance.